Civil service retorm ought to be one of the hottest topics in Britain at the moment. This year has seen unprecedented tensions between ministers and their officials, capped off by rumours of Whitehall sackings and a select committee report that came close to arguing that central government was a failing institution. The ease with which the civil service establishment has batted all of this aside is extraordinary. The argument seems to be that any serious debate about fundamental Whitehall reform would be a distraction from implementing Francis Maude's existing plans. Anyone who has read the civil service reform plan will see this for the fudge that it is.
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